


Brother Dearest

by Story_Teller_Of_Untold_Legends



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood, Brief Deceit mention, Crying, Dick Jokes, Eventual Fluff, Gen, Group Hugs, Head Injury, Healing, Hugs, Licking Blood, Screaming, Stabbing, Swordfighting, Verbal Abuse, Violence, decapitation mention, description of skin crawling, feeling helpless, feeling worthless, insect mention, murderous intent, torment of injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-05-30 16:29:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19407061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Story_Teller_Of_Untold_Legends/pseuds/Story_Teller_Of_Untold_Legends
Summary: Roman goes to his room, only to realize that something is... off. He suddenly finds himself in a dramatic swordfight against his brother, and things go downhill from there.





	Brother Dearest

**Author's Note:**

> Please heed the warnings! This is probably one of the most disturbing things I've written.

Something was wrong. Something was completely, terribly wrong… Roman could feel it the moment he entered his room. The hairs on the back of his neck rose up, his skin tingled- no, itched. Like there were insects creeping beneath his skin and crawling up his spine. There was a buzzing, the wings of a fly, perhaps. He could hear it both irritating and tinny in his ear, as well as all-encompassing in the space around him. Roman tried covering his ears, to try and block out the sound- but the buzzing grew louder, reverberating through his skull and causing his skin to crawl and itch even more. He grit his teeth together, the feel of his teeth scraping up against each other causing the sickening, crawling feeling to worsen. What was happening to him?! His room shouldn’t be behaving this way, unless…

A whoosh of air is the only warning Roman gets before a mace is suddenly swinging towards his head. He narrowly dodges the blow, ducking and rolling away from the assailant. He landed in a crouch, summoning his sword in a flourish- just in time to block another blow. The clang echoed through the room, and frankly Roman is surprised his sword hadn’t just snapped from the force of the larger weapon. The grating sound of metal on metal brings back the itchy feeling,and with a mighty shout, Roman pushes up, shooting to his feet and unbalancing his opponent.

“This is hardly a fair fight. Your weapon is bigger than mine!” Roman exclaimed indignantly.

“My weapon isn’t the only thing that is bigger…” his opponent- Remus- taunted. Roman’s mouth twists into a scowl that is a mix of disgust and disappointment.

“Really? Of all the comebacks in the world, you choose a lame dick joke?” he scoffed.

“Yeah, cause your dick is lame,” Remus shot back. Roman rolled his eyes.

“Seriously? Do you know nothing of witty comebacks?! This is not how a swordfight should go,” he huffed.

“Well Roman, if it’s a swordfight you want…” Remus purred darkly, and his mace shifted into a dark silver sword, nearly identical to Roman’s- except for the tentacles curling around the hilt. “Then it’s a swordfight you’ll get, brother dearest.”

That was all the warning Roman got before Remus lunged at him to strike. He barely got his own blade up in time to block the hit, swords clanging against each other. Remus came at him again and again, Roman somehow managing to hold his own against his brother. The two of them were just about evenly matched, but Remus’s chaotic nature made him unpredictable, and that unpredictability made him dangerous.

Remus’s grin was demented, the cold glint in his eyes matching the glint of his sword. The only sound filling the air was the clanging of their swords against each other, along with various grunts and sounds of effort. Sweat was trailing down Roman’s brow, and he was vaguely aware that his footing and swordsmanship were getting sloppy, but he had no choice. He had to hold his own against Remus. Who knows what he’d do if Roman let his guard down for even a moment.

His brother’s sword came slashing down at him, its path ridiculously predictable and easy to dodge. Roman opened his mouth to give a witty retort as he sidestepped, but suddenly found himself flat on his back due to Remus sweeping his legs out from underneath him. The attack had been a feint, how could he be so stupid?! But he didn’t have time to ponder this, as Remus leapt at him, holding his sword above his head with both hands gripping the hilt. Roman barely rolled away in time, Remus’s sword impaling the ground where his head had just been. Remus made an irritated sound, desperately trying to wrench his sword from the ground.

“Why are you doing this?!” Roman gasped out, as he scrambled to his feet and tried to catch his breath. He gripped the hilt of his sword tightly with both hands, raising it at Remus, even as his limbs trembled with exhaustion. With a grunt, Remus pulled his sword from the ground, leveling it at Roman as his grin grew just as twisted as his mustache.

“I suppose you don’t remember what I said to Thomas when we first met, hmm?” Remus hummed in thought.

“Uh, no. Because you bludgeoned me over the head with a mace!” Roman fumed.

“A fair point. But technically I spoke to Thomas before I knocked you out with my mace… and technically I only said it to Thomas, but details, details…” Remus trailed off with a shrug.

“Urgh! Just out with it already!”

“Fine, fine… touchy, touchy, yeesh. I said: ‘have you ever imagined killing your brother?’ And well… I’ve grown sick of just imagining,” he replied, the cold and dark tone of his voice not at all matching the wide grin across his face. Roman’s heart dropped as his eyes went wide.

“You- you can’t!”

“Why not? Because then Thomas would have no Creativity? How soon you forget that I am Creativity too!” Remus taunted.

“You won’t win!” Roman exclaimed with a slight growl to his voice. Remus threw his head back and laughed.

“Oh Roman… you always were the naive one,” Remus sighed, idly twirling his sword between his fingers. Roman grit his teeth together, and lunged at his brother with a mighty shout. Remus deflected the blade with ease, sidestepping to jab at Roman. He countered the attack, the clang of their swords deafening in Roman’s ear. Remus swung at him again and again, his attacks getting faster and more unpredictable. Roman wasn’t sure if he could gain the upper hand… and even if he could, what would he do? He wasn’t sure if he was comfortable with killing his own brother, even with how… unpleasant… Remus could be.

Remus swung at him again, and Roman pivoted away from the attack. He quickly whirled back to face his brother… only to see that he had somehow vanished. His gaze snapped around, trying to locate where Remus had went.

“You can’t just teleport in the middle of a swordfight! That’s against the- augh!” Roman’s sentence was cut off with a cry of pain, and his eyes widened at the sight of the sword now protruding from his abdomen.

“Screw the rules, I do what I want,” Remus growled, his breath hot against Roman’s ear and causing him to shudder.

Suddenly, there was a knocking at Roman’s door. It wasn’t loud and overenthusiastic, like Patton’s, or a methodical rhythm, like Logan’s… so it had to be Virgil. Unless Deceit was dropping by to say hello, which was highly unlikely.

“Roman? You good, man? I heard an awful lot of racket coming from your room,” a voice came from the other side of the door, unmistakably Virgil’s. Roman opened his mouth to cry out to him- for him to save himself or save Roman, he wasn’t sure- but Remus quickly clamped his free hand over his mouth and twisted the sword harshly, causing Roman to let out a muffled scream of pain.

The door swung open, and Virgil stepped in. His expression quickly turned from mild concern to absolute horror. His hands flew to his mouth, eyes wide and watering. He was also trembling slightly, and Roman would be boiling with anger at his brother for making Virgil feel that way… that is, if Roman wasn’t currently preoccupied with the pain flaring through his abdomen.

“Virgil! So good of you to pop in!” Remus exclaimed, removing his hand from Roman’s mouth to instead grip his shoulder. The sword was suddenly wrenched from his abdomen, causing a strangled scream to tear its way from Roman’s throat. Remus shoved him forward, and Roman crumpled to the ground with a thump.

“Roman!” Virgil screamed, starting to rush towards him, but halted when Remus stepped over Roman’s fallen form, fingertips running along the flat edge of his sword and smearing the blood dripping from it. He eyed the blood now coating his fingertips with what seemed to be hunger, then licked his fingers without hesitation. Remus let out a pleased groan, making direct eye contact with Virgil all the while.

“No… leave him alone,” Roman gasped out, struggling in vain to get to his feet. Remus spun around, eyes blazing with a strange mixture of anger and glee. He kicked Roman right in the stab wound, causing Roman to cry out in pain and roll onto his back.

“Oh Roman, always so desperate to be the hero… it’s obnoxious,” Remus sighed.

“You’re… obnoxious,” Roman grit out.

“And you ridiculed my comebacks?!” Remus scoffed.

“LEAVE. HIM. ALONE!” Virgil shouted, his voice taking on its rather demonic, echo-y tone. Remus whirled around to face Virgil, regarding the anxious side with a wicked grin across his face.

“Now there’s the Virgil I know! Oh, we used to have so much fun together… what happened?” Remus asked with a sigh.

“Get. Out,” Virgil growled.

“Get out? You can’t just get rid of me! Or did you forget that so quickly? Besides, even if I did leave… there’s nothing you can do to save him. He will bleed out, die, and rot. Then I alone will be Creativity!” he cried triumphantly.

“You… will never be… Creativity…” Roman said between rattling breaths. Remus whirled around, glaring down fiercely at his brother.

“You never know when to shut up, do you? Maybe I should separate that stupid head from your shoulders. That ought to silence your pathetic rambling,” Remus growled, lifting his sword to strike. Roman weakly tried to scramble away, but his movements felt sluggish and the world around him was hazy.

“NO!” Virgil shouted, and the echoing of his voice seemed to shake the whole room. For a brief moment, Remus froze, and Roman could have sworn he looked terrified. But soon the manic gleam in his eyes was back. 

But fortunately for Roman, Virgil’s terrified cry had alerted just about the whole mindscape. Logan and Patton ran into the room, both of their eyes blown wide. Tears began streaming down Patton’s cheeks, and his hands clapped over his mouth in horror. Logan’s mouth hung agape as he took in the terrifying scene: Roman sprawled on the floor and bleeding out, with his brother standing over him with his sword dripping with blood. 

Logan snapped his mouth shut, fixing Remus with a stern glare. He stepped protectively in front of Patton and Virgil.

“Your threats are only as real as we let them be,” he said evenly.

“Tell that to your precious prince as his life fades away,” Remus spat. Patton let out a strangled sob, trying to rush past Logan and Virgil to get to Roman. But Virgil held him back, even as tears gathered in his own eyes.

“Patton, I’m not letting you get hurt too!” he cried, voice still echoing.

“But Roman needs us!” Patton protested.

“No, he doesn’t,” Logan replied calmly.

“What?!” Virgil and Patton cried out in unison.

“Roman’s injury is only as real as he lets it be,” Logan declared.

“Oh really? What kind of fantasy world are you living in that a brutal stabbing doesn’t equal death?” Remus scoffed.

“But Roman’s wound is just that. Fantasy. You are Creativity… or so you claim,” he said with a smirk.

“I am Creativity!” Remus screamed.

“Roman is Creativity. He is Thomas’s hopes and dreams, his passions. You, and no one else, for that matter, can ever take that away from him,” Logan said, a fierceness to his tone that Roman had never heard before. 

With each word he spoke, Roman felt himself getting stronger. The pain lessened, bit by agonizing bit, and he slowly struggled into a sitting position. Remus could only hurt him if he let him. Roman saw that now. He felt the bleeding stop and the wound knitting back up. Roman slowly rose to his feet behind Remus, gripping his sword tightly.

“This ends. Now,” Roman declared. Remus spun around eyes wide in surprise. But before he could do anything, Roman raised his weapon and struck Remus on the head with the hilt of his sword. Remus groaned and swayed on his feet, and he soon crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

“That felt good,” Roman said with a grin.

“Roman!” Patton exclaimed, breaking free of Virgil’s grip and rushing over to him. He pulled Roman into a tight embrace, mindful of the sword in his hand. Roman quickly willed his sword away and hugged Patton back… until Patton squeezed a bit too tightly and Roman let out a slight gasp of pain.

“Bit too tight there, Padre,” he hissed. Patton pulled away, concern etched in his features.

“But… but you aren’t hurt anymore! Right?” Patton asked, voice trembling.

“Well, I’m certainly not bleeding out anymore, but my brother still has quite an effect on me, I’m afraid,” Roman sighed, looking downcast.

“It’s alright, Roman. What happened is not your fault, and just because the Duke may still hold some power over you does not make you weak. No one expects you to be perfect, Roman,” Logan said, walking over and placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. Roman’s eyes glistened with tears, but he was smiling softly.

“Thank you, Logan,” he murmured. Roman’s gaze shifted over to Virgil, who was standing off to the side, away from the rest of them. His hands were gripping at the sleeves of his hoodie, and he looked rather shell-shocked, but relieved. Roman gently broke away from Logan and Patton, then walked over towards Virgil.

“Roman…” he trailed off, a trace of demonic tone still remaining in his voice.

“I’m okay, see?” Roman said, reaching out to gently take Virgil’s hands in his. He pulled one of Virgil’s hands up to his chest, where his heart was still beating rather wildly, and the other hand he brought to where the stab wound had been just moments before.

“You almost weren’t,” Virgil choked out, tears streaming down his cheeks and smearing his makeup.

“But I am. Thanks to you,” Roman murmured. Virgil’s head shot up with disbelief written across his face.

“But I didn’t- Logan was the one who-”

“I wouldn’t have even known what was happening if you hadn’t cried out in distress, Virgil,” Logan pointed out as he walked over to stand with them, Patton trailing after him as well. Virgil looked like he wanted to protest, but instead let out a sigh.

“I guess. Just… don’t scare me like that, ever again, okay Princey?” Virgil said firmly. Roman opened his mouth to give some witty retort… until he remembered how terrified Virgil had been for him- and there was still some lingering terror in his eyes.

“I shall endeavor not to,” he replied softly. That seemed to be enough for Virgil, as his shoulders sagged in relief.

“Good. Cause I think I’ve built up enough stress to last Thomas several lifetimes… we should probably check up on him,” Virgil sighed.

“I’m sure Thomas will be fine for a few more minutes. Cause I really need a group hug right about now… I promise I’ll be gentle this time, Roman,” Patton said softly, almost timidly. Roman grinned, and without another word pulled the three sides close to him, trying to wrap his arms around all of them, but also trying to be mindful of the soreness in his abdomen. But the others more than made up for it, their arms coming up around him, making him feel safe and loved. Because just like no one could take away who he was, they couldn’t take away his friends either.


End file.
